How It Should Have Ended
by glittering wolf
Summary: How How I Met Your Mother should have ended.


**Hello. This is my first and only How I Met Your Mother Story. I felt very passed at the series finale, so I wrote my own. Read and Review**

**I don't own HIMYM.**

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Ted walked slowly to the train stop. He looked up at the gray sky, glad it had stopped raining. Maybe the universe was finally throwing him a bone.

He looked at his watch, the train should be here at any moment, so he waited. And waited, and waited, and waited. Ted slumped on the bus bench feeling irritated. 45 minutes. He'd been waiting for 45 minutes.

"Come on!" he yelled in frustration staring up into the sky. "I'm finally ready to move on with my life. Leave the greatest city on Earth and the best friends I've ever known for Chicago! Chicago! And now the train is late! Come on! Just once, can you give me a break?" Ted looked up to the sky in desperation.

_'And kids, the universe gave me the biggest break of my life.'_

The sky seemed to open up, and a sheet of rain fell down on him, soaking his clothes and chilling him to the bone. Ted spat out some water and nodded his head, throwing his arms in the air. "Yeah cloud break. Very funny, real original. Guess that is the only thing you've ever done for me. I make it rain, and a few years later the girl runs off and gets married to one of my best friends. Hilarious!"

Ted hunched down and tried to at least keep most of the rain off of him. The rain didn't seem to be coming any time soon so Ted sat there brooding, not even noticing the sound of footsteps coming closer and closer to him. A strong gust of wind blew, and he heard a yell of "Hey!" before a yellow umbrella raced down the sidewalk.

Recognition flashed on Ted's face before he chased after the familiar yellow umbrella. Reaching, he snatched up the umbrella before a shadow came over him.

He looked up and saw a woman, carrying a bass case and quickly getting wet. Ted moved the umbrella over their heads to protect them from the rain. The woman smiled putting her hand out to grab the handle, accidently brushing her hand against his own.

_'It was at that moment kids that I felt a jolt. Our hands touched once, and I knew I had found something special.'_

"You found my umbrella," the woman said happily. "You have no idea how much that means to me. I just found this umbrella after it had been missing for years." The woman's voice was sweet, but strong while Ted just stared at her dumbfounded, knowing he wanted to hear more of it. "Actually," he said slowly. "I believe this is my umbrella I lost awhile back. See I found it years ago at a St. Patrick's Day, and you can totally see my initials right here. T.M. Ted Mosby"

The woman stared at him wide eyed. "So you're the umbrella stealer!" she accused, her voice dramatic but her eyes bemused. "I left this behind at a St. Patrick's Day party years ago and never saw it again. Besides those are my initials. I'm Tracey McConnell, and I put them there when I found my umbrella again in the apartment I shared with my roommate so it wouldn't get stolen by anymore notorious umbrella thieves."

Ted and Tracey laughed. "I guess we could always share," Ted suggested, trying his best to be nonchalant. Tracey pretended to think it over for a bit. "All right. I usually wouldn't hang out with a dangerous criminal, but you seem nice, a kind of Robin Hood type. You probably steal umbrellas all the time and give them to the wet,"

_'So we sat and talked. We talked about our detective skills.'_

"Yeah the Mosby Boys were big. We could have been even bigger if my sister hadn't quit. Ted rolled his eyes and slumped his shoulders. Tracey nodded. "I was a bit of a detective too. My cases mostly consisted of me finding my stuff after the other kids hid them because I was acting like a detective. It was kind of a vicious cycle."

_'We talked about our cool souvenirs.'_

"I don't mean to brag, but I got a super cool flail at the Renaissance Fair." Ted said, and air of superiority about him. Tracey gaped at him. "No way! I got a jousting pole at the Renaissance Fair!"

_'And we talked about college,' _

"Seriously? That was you?" Tracey asked between her laughs. Ted nodded. "I have to admit I thought you were kind of an idiot," Tracey admitted. "But don't feel too bad, I got lost there too. Those rooms are confusing. They all look alike!" "I know right?" Ted agreed.

_'We talked until the train pulled into the station. Your mother's train anyway, I don't know what happened to mine.'_

"I have to go," Tracey said regretfully. "But you have my number so, call me." Tracy waved goodbye before picking up her case and stepping onto the train, leaving Ted standing alone in the rain, her..his..their yellow umbrella keeping him dry. Quickly he pulled out his phone and began dialing rapidly. "Hello Marshall, change of plans."

"Ted you can't just do this to us!" Lilly scolded as she punched Ted in the arm. Ted had called an emergency meeting, and they were all back in their old booth at MacLaren's bar, even Barney and Robin. "Saying you're leaving forever, changing your mind and making Robin and Barney postpone their honeymoon?" Lilly gestured at the newlywed couple who looked less than happy. "It's just not right." "No it's okay," Barney assured the two. "I'm sure those cruise tickets for a ship's last voyage extravaganza and laser tag tournament come around all the time. It's no big deal." Barney tone was thick with sarcasm while Robin said no words, simply choosing to scowl with her first clenched.

"So what's the big emergency?" Marshall asked. Ted looked at them while they shuddered in anticipation. "I met a girl!" Ted revealed smiling proudly, like a kid who just made macaroni drawing. His friends groaned while Barney banged his head on the table. "Really?" Lilly asked exasperated. "I give you all these good reasons to stay. Barney tries to set you up. Marshall tries to destroy your plane ticket. And you stay for a girl?" Ted looked at her alarmed. "What was that last one?"

"Nothing!" Marshall rushed to say. "So why did you call us here?" Ted smiled. "I wanted you guys to give me some advice. When to call her. What to say. How I should say I love her, Kidding!" he added hastily when he heard his friends groan and saw Lilly raise her fists to hit him again.

"Well you definitely need to wait three days," Barney advised. "Agreed," Robin said. "You don't want to scare off you only excuse for staying in New York." Ted nodded. "Sounds good. I'll be right back, I have to go to the restroom." Marshall, Lilly, Barney, and Robin looked at each other as Ted rose from the table and left them alone before starting to talk seriously and intensely to each other. "We can't let him mess this us!" Lilly said. "He could end up on the next plane the minute he gets dumped." "Whatever happens we need to support him," Marshall added. "Yeah he just needs to get some and get his confidence up. Then the rest of his problems should go away or get easier to ignore," Barney said. Robin nodded. "Teddy needs to get layed." "Well," Lilly was about to argue, but when Ted walked back, she immediately shut up.

Ted looked at them sheepishly. "Yeah I called her and got a date with her tonight so gotta go. Bye!" Ted admitted before bolting out the door. "Well Ted's moving," Barney deadpanned. Lilly sighed. "I guess we should go home to Marvin," she said looking at Marshall. "And I guess we should go on our Honeymoon," Robin relented. Marshall sat looking at his drink. "Or we could just wait for Ted and see how the date went," he suggested. "Please Marshall," Barney laughed. "We do have lives."

_'They stayed there all night.'_

It was late into the night when Ted finally returned, holding a girl's hand and leading her to the table. "Guys this is Tracy." Recognition flashed across all the gang's faces. Tracy remembered them as well if her smile was any indication. "Hey nice to see you guys again." Ted looked at her in confusion. "Again?" Tracey happily pointed to each of them as she revealed their first meetings. "Stranger on the Train, Hitchhiker, Runaway Bride, and weird guy with the problems and diapers." She smiled mischievously. "Small world huh? I'll go buy the next round."

As she walked to the bar, all the gang jumped on him. "Don't ever let his girl go!" Lilly ordered. "She makes the best cookies." "Think of the cookies Ted," Marshall ordered. Ted backed away alarmed. "I'm going to go help her with those drinks," he said as he moved away from the group slowly and joined Tracey at the bar.

Marshall slapped money into Lilly's palm. She starred at him in confusion. "But not yet," she protested confused before Marshall pressed a gentle finger to get lips. "You win," he said quietly. Lilly looked over at Tracey and Ted laughing at the bar and knew he was right.

_'And that kids is how I met your mother. We dated a year before I popped the question at the lighthouse near the place where we met. We got married at that very hotel in Farhampton, but we weren't the only ones who were happy.'_

_Your Uncle Marshall and Aunt Lilly spent the year in Italy where Lilly gained critical acclaim for her artistic sense. Four years after that your Uncle Marshall got a call'_

The phone rang, and Marshall quickly ran to answer it. "Mr. Erickson, this is the Attorney General." Marshall smiled. "Oh Sarah hi," he said, remembering his old friend from law school. "It's been a while. How're you doing?" "I'm okay," she said. "But I'd be even better if you would actually take the judgeship this time."

Marshall stared at the phone in shock. "What! How?" "One of our judges is retiring, and I pulled some strings to get my old friend considered for the position. What do you say?" Marshall stood frozen for a minute before saying, "Thank you, I accept the position." Quietly he hung up the phone before jumping up the air with his fists raised. "Yes!"

_'Your Aunt Robin became a traveling news journalist and your Uncle Barney went with her while she traveled to different parts of the world.'_

Barney and Robin were running for their lives with a crowd of people, away from a herd of very angry bulls. "Why are we doing this?" Barney yelled, huffing and wheezing like mad. "You're the one who wanted to spend more time together and that this would be awesome!" Robin yelled back. "When you said you'd be reporting on the running with the bulls, I thought you meant we'd be watching not participating!" Robin shrugged and reached down to remove her heels. "At least you'll have something to blog about later."

_'Yeah those were some fun pictures. Amway, the important thing is we never stopped being friends. Every year we got together for Robots vs. Wrestlers, and we always had E-mail and Skype because you see kids, if you care about someone you never let them drift away for long. I stayed with your mother through everything. I was there when she released her first album, and I was there when her mother died. I was there for your mother when she got cancer, and I was still there when she recovered. Your mother gave me you two, and she gave my life meaning. I don't regret anything in my life because without those things happening, I would never have met your mother. The end.'_

His kids stared at him wide- eyed. "That's it?" Penny asked. "It's finally over?" Luke said hopefully. Ted rolled his eyes. "Yes it's over." "Good." Luke stood up. "Because I really have to go to the bathroom."

Tracey walked in and gave Ted a peck on the cheek. "What have you guys been doing in here for so long?" she asked. "Telling us how you guys met. Extensively," Penny said annoyed. "Oh." Tracey's eyes widened. "Just wait until you hear my side of the story. It's a lot more interesting." "What is?" a voice called out. Marshall entered the room, followed closely by Lilly, Marvin, Daisy, Katie, and Sam. "How Tracey and I met," Ted answered, grinning at his friends and his nieces and nephews. "How can you tell that story without our way more awesome side?" Barney asked as he entered the room with Robin. "I bet you didn't even mention my blog. It's a lot better now you know."

Ted shrugged. I guess we'll have to tell the whole thing over again. Sit down kids. Let's tell you the story of how we all met each other. Luke and Penny stared at each other horrified as they sat back down. 'Here goes another long story,' they thought.


End file.
